


Atonement

by annthetropicalfish



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Gale is on the brotherzone, I'm not sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-12
Updated: 2015-06-12
Packaged: 2018-04-04 02:17:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4122316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annthetropicalfish/pseuds/annthetropicalfish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She noticed or at least acknowledged that night how much she liked him, how he was no longer  the Groundskeeper's son, he was Peeta Mellark, her friend since she was seven, the teenage boy she liked to look at while he swam with Gale in the river, the man she was discovering while eating fish and chips with shitty beer in a poorly illuminated college room</p>
            </blockquote>





	Atonement

 

The heat was suffocating. Her blouse was plastered to her back and the sun felt like a red hot poker on her neck. She had pinned her braid into a bun but, braid in a bun or not, the heat wave was relentless.

 

The reason she willingly volunteered to fill the ancient vase with water was because she really wanted to have a smoke. Her brother Gale and his friend Cato Marshall were coming for a few days and her mother wanted everything to be perfect, ancient vase in the guest room included.

 

She focused on the cool grass under her feet and tried not think about her mother’s depression and migraine, her father’s absence from the house to work in the city, she was supposed to act as a nanny or some kind of guide in life to her cousins from the North that were staying with them because Aunt Hazelle was having a rough time after her husband’s death. Posy and the twins Rory and Vick were not happy. They missed their parents, the weather was too hot, they were bored and Prim was too young for adolescent Posy and too old for rowdy Rory and Vick.

 

She tried not to think about her need to do something about her life. And  Anna Karenina was not helping with her musings on life and duty.

 

Katniss was twenty-five years old and she felt stuck. She had a minor degree in Literature but she didn’t want to be behind a desk and right now her first and only choice was to pack a suitcase and leave her house. Prim was a young girl in her own world of fictional characters and she no longer needed her big sister, so nothing was keeping Katniss from running away. 

 

But then there was Peeta.

 

They were childhood friends and university acquaintances. Their paths had drifted when they started middle school. Their bodies changed.  His was sturdy and broad and hers small but with soft curves of a young woman, but still even if they didn’t spend much time together like they used too, they talked to each other without the weird and awkward air she felt when they reached college. 

 

He had his degree in History but now he was going to medical school and her father was paying. She rolled her eyes at the thought of spending another six years studying. 

 

She remembered when she saw him in her dorm because they had friends in common. He made awkward jokes and she scowled the entire time, but still she  noticed how handsome he looked, his blond hair trimmed short, his shoulders still broad and his eyes, how the his light blue eyes were speckled with tiny orange dots. 

 

She noticed or at least acknowledged that night how much she liked him, how he was no longer  the Groundskeeper's son, he was Peeta Mellark, her friend since she was seven, the teenage boy she liked to look at while he swam with Gale in the river, the man she was discovering while eating fish and chips with shitty beer in a poorly illuminated college room. 

 

That was the reason why she felt so foolish and lightheaded around him, because this new revelation came with a raw desire she didn’t know she had. 

 

She checked her blouse and hair in the mirror before leaving the house to go to the fountain in the middle of the big garden to fill the vase with water. She cursed when she realized she had left her pack of cigarettes upstairs and double cursed when she saw Peeta planting primroses next to the stairs that lead to the fountain. She didn’t want to talk to him just yet, she still feel hot and bothered in his presence, but the idea of going back inside was not in her plans right now.

 

“Will you roll me one of you cigarettes?” she asked and Peeta jumped slightly. He was on his knees and when he turned around to look at her she noticed his hair plastered on his temple.

 

“Always the light feet, Kat, “ he said with a chuckle and Katniss shrugged. She hated the pet name Kat but somehow when Peeta said it it wasn’t so bad. He took a small tin box from his breast pocket and offered her a cigarette.

 

“So, how’s Anna Karenina ?” he asked while he lit her cigarette. Katniss blew the smoke and sighed.

 

“Sometimes she seems kind of whiny, I like Kitty better,” she said and Peeta lifted his eyebrows while he lit his own cigarette.

 

“That’s a statement,” he said with a sly smile and Katniss frowned.

 

“What do you think about it?” she asked like it was a challenge.

 

“I’m more of a Dostoievski kind of guy,” he said and Katniss crooked an eyebrow. She noticed Peeta’s blush and fought a smile.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry, ‘Mister Dostoievski’ kind of guy,” she whispered and turned around.  Peeta laughed. 

 

“The Old Man telephoned  last night, says you’re planning on being a doctor,” she said when he walked next to her towards the fountain.

 

“I’m thinking about it, yes,” he said and she noticed how his shoulders tensed when she looked at him briefly.

 

“Another six years of student life,” she said, noticing her tone was accusatory. What part would she play in his life those six years? She felt like a petulant child, kicking the floor with a whine asking him to not forget about her.

 

“How else do you become a doctor?” he asked with a pleasantness that couldn’t hide his irritation.

 

“A fellowship?” she said. He clenched his jaw and she noticed the blonde stubble there. She looked away feeling even hotter, so she walked faster but he didn’t follow her. 

 

“I don’t want to teach, look I said I’d pay your father back,” he said and she stopped dead in her tracks. She felt so foolish now, like she was questioning him on his choices and loyalty but angry because he thought the matter was the money. She turned around and found him looking at her with a mixture of anger and longing.

 

“That’s not what I meant at all,” she said angrily, her eyes fixed on his. The rest of the walk was in silence but his heavy footsteps behind her felt like a peace offering.

 

“Gale and his friend are coming,” she said when she reached the fountain.

 

“I heard. t’s marvelous you’re getting flowers from the chocolate millionaire,” he said way too cheerfully and Katniss noticed the jealous tone behind the joke. She wondered if he was acting jealous just to show he was jealous. Sometimes he was so hard to read it drove her mad.

 

“Emily wants everything in perfect shape and Aunt Effie’s vase is the star of the room,” she said. 

She sat in the warm edge of the fountain and held the flowers to fill the vase with water.

 

“Let me help you with that,” he said taking one of the handles but Katniss held it tighter.

 

“I can do it,” she said but Peeta tried to take it from her hands.

 

“I’ll take the vase and you take the flowers,” he said and his tone, trying to sound in control annoyed her, so instead of explaining she wanted to hold the flowers in the vase and lower it on its side to fill it with water, she held the vase tighter. But Peeta wasn’t so eas to shake off and in the middle of their struggle sharp crack in the air and a section of the lip’s vase fell in the water while he held one of the handles. 

 

Katniss stood with the rest of the vase looking at him dumbfounded but his eyes seemed to shine with a certain triumph she didn’t like. He crooked an  eyebrow and she huffed in annoyance. He took a step back at her scowling but he was holding a stupid little grin.

 

“You idiot! You realized this is probably the most valuable thing we own?” she asked while Peeta failed magnificently at trying to keep from grinning. The porcelain piece laid in the bottom of the fountain now.

 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he said but he didn’t sound sorry at all.

 

“You little-” 

 

“Careful!” he said before she could take a step. She looked down and a piece of porcelain lay at her feet. He was still trying to hold his grin and Katniss decided she wanted to punish him not only for the vase, but for the awkwardness, for his hard-to-read mind, and for his stupid blue eyes with little orange dots. 

It was crazy but she didn’t mind, she could’ve blamed the heat but her determination settled her actions. Without taking her eyes off him she started to unbutton her blouse and she saw him swallow tightly. Her long skirt followed and then she was in nothing but her underwear.

 

“Kat-” he said but his eyes betrayed him.

 

The water felt ice cold on her warm skin and every pore of her body screamed in protest and relief. She held her breath and dived to retrieve the broken piece of the vase.She emerged panting for air and when she jumped to the edge she realized Peeta was looking at her with hooded eyes, jaw tightly shut, hands fisted tightly at his side. Katniss realized she was wearing white undergarments and that meant he could see her through her wet clothes but she didn’t care. The rush of adrenaline that came when she jumped to the water left when Peeta looked the other way. She could see his jaw clenched tightly and by the way his pants pockets were, he was clenching his fists too.

 

She put on her clothes quickly, cursing the damn silk because it was hard to make things quick when the blouse didn’t cooperate.

She walked past him holding the vase and the broken piece. She wanted to turn around to see if he was watching her go but she looked ahead stubbornly. 

 

***

  
While Katniss walked quickly to the house holding a vase, Peeta walked slowly to the fountain and barely touched the surface of the water with his palm. Both looked upset,but Primrose couldn’t understand why. Looking through the window her vast imagination started to fly.

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be part of the Movie on the month of May Challenge but, RL and hello June, where did you come from? Thanks a million to brionybree for her time to read and fix the mistakes.If you see one it's mine, trust me.


End file.
